


His Feathers Looked Better and Better

by QueenOfAllCorgis



Series: Fly Away, Fly Away, Far Away [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Angel!Roger, David Bowie is a dear, Gen, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 21:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20645591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfAllCorgis/pseuds/QueenOfAllCorgis
Summary: A boring day at the clothing stall was made interesting by a fascinating visitor.





	His Feathers Looked Better and Better

**Author's Note:**

> Title from David Bowie's song Watch That Man
> 
> This was prompted from Katishas_right_elbow! Here is the prompt:  
This prompt is based on three things that actually happened:
> 
> 1\. Freddie met David Bowie when the latter had a show at Ealing art college early in his career; Freddie helped him move desks together to make a stage.
> 
> 2\. Later, when Freddie and Roger had the Kensington market stall, Freddie found a pair of boots for Bowie.
> 
> 3\. This outfit from 1973 - https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/1/9/1357758542263/DAVID-BOWIE---1973-008.jpg?width=465&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=07315a8756af89c35c5ac66aacc559c0
> 
> The prompt - Poor Roger, he's moulting! He's cranky and tired, and possibly running a low fever. But he promised Freddie he'd work at the market that day, so he goes in, even though he's spending just as much time picking up dropped feathers as he is folding shirts.
> 
> Freddie stepped out, and not long after, his friend David comes in to pick up a pair of boots Freddie found for him. Roger gets the boots, but drops more feathers in the process. He's horribly embarrassed, but Bowie seems to like the fluffy turquoise feathers. He asks if there are more he could have - he doesn't know what he'll do with them, but he's sure inspiration will strike at some point in the future. Roger laughs and pulls the paper grocery bag he'd been putting all the shed feathers in out from behind the counter.
> 
> Roger tells Freddie about the whole exchange when Freddie gets back, and they have a good laugh about it. They don't think much about it until a couple years later, when they see photos from Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" tour...

To say that Roger was annoyed when the man approached him was an understatement. He was halfway through sounding out a page of a magazine Freddie had left and has finally gotten comfortable on the little chair in the corner.

Maybe he wasn’t made for customer service. Maybe he just didn’t want to deal with assholes saying terrible things to him. Maybe he didn’t want to have to rehang and refold a million things.

Still, he flicked his eyes up and saw a tall, thin man giving him a small smile. He was wearing bell bottom jeans, a red patterned button up and had a head of curly hair. Most interestingly was his eyes. One was a clear blue and the other had an incredibly thin ring of blue around a too big pupil.

“Hi there, do you work here?” the man asked softly, and Roger raised his eyebrows.

“Yes sir I do.”

“Splendid, Freddie told me that you would be here,” the man’s face lit up. “I’m here to pick up some boots he saved for me.”

Roger was a bit surprised at how normally the man was speaking to him. He met his eyes and spoke to him like a person, something that he hadn’t experienced much. “You must be David then.”

“That’s me,” the man grinned as Roger hopped off his chair, inching past him to get to the piles of clothes Freddie put aside for either himself or his friends. David stepped back respectfully and his eyes followed the feathers that drifted down as he moved.

A hot blush spread across Roger’s face as he snatched the boots and pulled his wings in, only making more feathers drift around him. “Sorry about that…I’m molting and it’s…let me just get it cleaned up and I’ll bag the boots for you.”

“Not a problem,” David said kindly, watching as Roger tried to scoop up the feathers and shove them into the little bag. “That happen often?”

Again, Roger was surprised at how normally David was treating him. He expected cold indifference at best. “Um…like once a year? It makes room for new healthy feathers. It’s just annoying…”

“What do you do with the feathers that fall out?”

“I throw them out,” Roger shrugged and placed the boots in a bag, handing them to David with a smile. “I think Freddie said they would be thirty pounds.”

David pulled out his wallet and counted out some bills. “It seems such a shame to toss them, they are just beautiful.”

Another blush lit up Roger’s cheeks and he ducked his head. Usually when people complemented his wings it made him feel a bit dirty, but this felt like when Freddie ranted about their beauty. This was someone who actually saw them as beautiful, not as a sign that he wasn’t human.

“Honestly sir, they’re just old feathers.”

David hummed and took his wallet out again. “I’ll buy them…the bag I mean.”

“What?”

“I think they’re beautiful, you don’t see colors like that often. I like designing clothing and costumes and think it would be a stunning addition,” David handed him a fifty pound note. “Only if you want to though.”

Roger blinked down at the money and then glanced at the bag of discarded feathers. “Do you really want them?”

“I do,” the kind smile never left his face as Roger took the note and handed over the paper bag. “But, the money is yours, alright?”

“Excuse me?”

“I know Freddie owns you and all, but these are your feathers and that is your money,” David nodded to the money in his hand.

“Freddie doesn’t own me. We play in a band together, he…he saved me,” Roger’s voice went soft. He had never talked about his situation before with anyone outside of the band. For some reason, David seemed trustworthy.

“Good,” David’s mismatched eyes drifted to the still crooked wing and his eyes went a bit sad. “I knew Freddie was a good guy but…I’m glad. I am hoping to come to your next concert.”

“I’m excited to see your costume sir,” Roger smiled and he watched David leave the stall with a small wave, money still clutched in his hand.

Maybe good people weren’t as rare as he thought.

He was still on a bit of a high when Freddie returned from his errands. He placed his coat on the pile in the corner and noticed the boots were gone. “Oh! David came by?”

“Yeah, he was nice,” Roger shrugged, opening his magazine again. “Said he might come to our next show.”

Freddie lit up at that. “Really? That’s amazing!”

Confused, Roger nodded slowly. “Yeah…I guess.”

“You don’t know who he is?” Freddie looked stunned and the familiar feeling of shame bubbled in Roger’s gut. He really hated not knowing things. “He is about to release his third studio album. His last song Space Oddity was top of the charts!”

“Oh…he didn’t say…”

“Course he didn’t,” Freddie shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “Hell, I only know him because I approached him in a café and told him about the stall. He has an interesting sense of style and those boots were perfect!”

“Interesting is a good word for it. He wanted to buy my molted feathers,” he held out the fifty pound note to Freddie. “He said I should keep it but-“

“Then it’s yours,” Freddie curled his fingers around it and pushed it towards his chest. “Spend it on what you want.”

Roger grinned and placed the note in his pocket. He had never actually earned money before. “Maybe I’ll get some new drumsticks.”

“Honey, you spend it on whatever you want. Drumsticks, food, clothes, prostitutes,” Freddie waved his hands. “It’s your money.”

*

Freddie slammed the magazine on the kitchen table, nearly knocking over Roger’s tea. The angel glared up at him and picked up the toast that had slipped off his plate. “What?”

“Look,” the frontman flipped through the pages rapidly before he came across a picture, stabbing his finger into it. “David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.”

Roger leaned forward and studied the picture. David certainly looked different from how he looked years ago in their stall. His hair was shorter and dyed bright red. His makeup was rather dramatic, looking a bit like how Freddie did it on stage. The outfit he was wearing was…interesting. It had more patterns than he had ever seen on an article of clothing. The colors were outrageous in the best way and-

“Are those my feathers?” He blurted out and Freddie cackled.

“They are!”

Roger traced his fingers along the feathers in the picture in awe. “He used my feathers for his costume?”

“For a world tour! You should be getting a cut of the revenue darling,” Freddie bounced on his feet a bit. “I told you that your wings were a goddamn work of art. Now the world gets to see that too!”

Maybe his wings were something to be proud of.


End file.
